Inspiration takes centrestage
- POSTED ON: 8 Dec, 2018
- TOTAL VIEWS: 1127 Views
- POSTED BY: Madhumitha Srinivasan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 150 Points
A creative work can be adapted into multiple formats to reach different audiences. This is true of books, movies, and plays.
Case in point: J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series spawned a multi-billion dollar movie franchise and then a stage spin-off titled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child that begins 19 years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Slide over the images to see the posters of the play and the works that they have inspired or have been inspired from.
Oliver!
This stage musical inspired a 1968 movie, both adapted from the Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist. The story follows a nine-year-old orphan Oliver Twist who falls in with a group of street-urchin pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger and Fagin. When Oliver’s intended mark, Mr. Brownlow, takes pity on him and offers him a home, Fagin tries to keep the boy from talking.
Anastasia
A musical based on a 1997 animated film of the same name, the story fictionalises a myth surrounding the Romanov family of Russia. It is about the legend of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, who is supposed to have escaped the execution of her family. When the Romanovs were killed, Anastasia barely made it alive. With vague memories of her past, she travels to Paris with two cons who want to portray her as the real princess and be rewarded.
The Wizard of Oz
It is a musical that is an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy and her dog are whisked away in their house to the magical land of Oz. There, she befriends a scarecrow that needs a brain, a Tin Man missing a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage. Together, they set off of an adventurous journey to meet the wizard who is the only one who can help them.
Annie
It is a Broadway musical based on the popular Harold Gray comic strip “Little Orphan Annie”. The plot is set in the 1930s, during which Annie, a fiery young orphan girl, lives in a miserable orphanage run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan. Her seemingly hopeless situation changes dramatically when she is selected to spend a short time at the residence of the wealthy munitions industrialist, Oliver Warbucks.
The Sound of Music
This 1959 stage musical inspired the super-hit film. It is based on the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. Maria, an aspiring nun, is sent as a governess to take care of seven motherless children. Soon, her jovial and loving nature tames their hearts and the children become fond of her.
Mary Poppins
The musical is a fusion of P. L. Travers’ Mary Poppins children’s books and the 1964 Disney film of the same name. It is about Mary Poppins, a nanny with a special gift, who visits a dysfunctional family in London and uses her unique talents to improve the family’s dynamic.
